The prime minister is set to announce on Tuesday who he’s appointing to become Canada’s next governor general, CBC News has learned. Multiple sources said Mark Carney’s selection is expected to be fully bilingual in English and French. Two sources said the appointee is a woman. The current governor general, Mary Simon, is nearing the end of five years in...
Azam Ishmael, who has served as the Liberal Party’s national director for more than nine years, is stepping down. Mr. Ishmael announced his decision in a letter to party staff, but did not say why he is leaving. Mr. Ishmael said he is sad his time in politics is ending but he goes with “a full heart, deep gratitude, and...
Alberta separatists handed in a massive petition Monday to try to trigger a referendum on the province leaving Canada, touting a final tally of nearly 302,000 signatures after months of campaigning. Waving Alberta flags and sporting matching blue hoodies, more than 300 supporters gathered at the Elections Alberta office in Edmonton as a convoy of trucks delivered the paperwork. Mitch...
British Columbia Premier David Eby said he doesn't understand why the federal government continues to push a new oil pipeline from Alberta, while it fails to include B.C.'s softwood lumber industry in its latest round of tariff relief. He said it's unclear to him why Prime Minister Mark Carney said last week that a new pipeline is "more likely than...
The federal government is launching a new $1 billion loan program for steel, aluminum and copper businesses impacted by U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs. Industry Minister Mélanie Joly and minister responsible for the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario Evan Solomon made the announcement in Vars, Ont. on Monday morning. “The new measures announced today will protect workers and...
The latest Weekly Federal Tracker from Liaison Strategies shows the Liberal Party, led by Prime Minister Mark Carney, maintaining a double-digit lead over the Pierre Poilievre Conservatives. If a federal election were held today among decided and leaning voters, the Liberals would receive 45% of the vote, followed by the Conservatives at 33%, the NDP at 9%, and the Bloc...
Canada’s confidence has stabilized at neutral. The index has recovered from April lows, signalling a pause in pessimism rather than a clear recovery. Of note, personal finances and economic expectations remain weak. Improved expectations suggest cautious hope, but momentum is limited and fragile overall nationwide.
Like hungry wolves, opposition MPs look to isolate and target the weakest, the most awkward or the most bumbling in the ministerial herd. The Conservatives are currently launching coordinated attacks on Lena Diab, the immigration minister. In an unsentimental social media post, the party’s immigration critic, Michelle Rempel Garner, called for the minister to be fired , after her department...
If anyone in Canada was sleepwalking toward the prospect of an Alberta independence referendum, events over the last few days should be enough to jolt anyone awake. A massive data breach of Alberta voter information, published by a pro-independence outfit called The Centurion Project, has sparked an RCMP investigation and some hurried efforts by the Alberta government to check whether...
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon says the potential pipeline expansion project U.S. President Donald Trump approved last week is a positive sign of “cross-border communication” and co-operation, after more than a year of tension stemming from the trade war. Last week, Trump signed an order authorizing the Bridger Pipeline Expansion, a proposed project that would revive portions of the cancelled Keystone...
Unions representing workers across the country were calling on governments to be flexible Monday after executives in the federal public service started a new work schedule that will see them on-site in the office five days a week. The Treasury Board announced the change to remote work rules in February and said all other employees will have to be in...
Canada is at a crossroads. In the coming days and weeks, the federal government will decide whether the country compromises its climate commitments or embraces a more sustainable path towards a greener future.
Elections Alberta could have known more than a month ago that there was a violation of the province’s voter file, exposing the personal data of 2.9 million electors in the province to unknown numbers of bad actors. They could have known because I warned them – or, rather, I tried to. I reported an anonymous tip. I got a call...
The absence of a visible leader of the Democrats will help, not hurt Democratic Party chances in the midterms.
So far, there's been a lot more talk than action, and, for a guy who campaigned on rebuilding this country so it could confront existential threats to our sovereignty, more speed would be better. I suspect even the prime minister would agree.
Breaking my rule of never quoting myself, but those lines are from a column of mine from February 2017, one month after Donald Trump’s first inauguration. Since then, American democracy has experienced the respite of four years of Joe Biden, which not so much reinstated normal working conditions in journalism and comedy as slowed the slide of both towards the...
Much has been said since March about how Avi Lewis has finally and fully landed in the family business, following in the footsteps of his father, Stephen, and his grandfather, David, who also were leaders for the New Democrats. But Lewis has always been in a family business. His mother, Michele Landsberg, wrote for this paper for more than 2...
Is this it? Is this all a galaxy brain in control of a government within sight of 50 per cent in the polls can offer in the midst of a crisis? A bit of a nip here, a bit of a tuck there, but all-in-all keeping Canada on the same rotten economic trajectory?
There were several rounds of chatter over the summer and into the fall about whether the honeymoon was over for Prime Minister Mark Carney – and if not yet, when that moment would come. Elbows sagged; President Donald Trump went on blowing up like a puffer fish; tariffs were carving up certain sectors of the economy and regions of the...
It’s alarming that Prime Minister Mark Carney, citing China as a “strategic partner,” has agreed to a secret deal on co-operating with Chinese police, given the highly controversial nature of these agreements in the past.
If one thing is clear from Prime Minister Mark Carney’s economic update this week, it’s that he’s taking progressive voters for granted. Headlines like “A Canada for All” sound nice. As do statements like: “the government is protecting the essential social programs that give Canadians a fair chance to get ahead — child care, dental care, and pharmacare.”
Last year, I supported the Conservatives in the federal election because the Liberal government of the previous 10 years had produced large net capital outflows, presided over Canada’s decline in the rankings of the most prosperous countries per capita, conducted a suicidal war on the petroleum industry, self-defamed the country for attempted genocide of First Nations, was a useless member...
Why would U.S. President Donald Trump approve a Keystone-like pipeline that could eventually transport a million barrels a day of Canadian oil to refineries in the U.S. Midwest or along the Gulf coast? Trump had four full years during his first term to reverse the suspension of Keystone imposed by his predecessor, Barack Obama. He never did. Does this mean...
July 1, 2026, is an important date for the future of the Canada-U.S. Mexico Agreement (CUSMA), but there is considerable confusion as to exactly what is supposed to happen on that date. Some think it is the final deadline for negotiations to save the agreement from termination. Others think it is the starting date for a complete renegotiation of the...
It’s been nearly a week, and we are still no closer to knowing what the Carney government means when it talks about setting up “Canada’s first sovereign wealth fund.” I don’t just mean what it would do, or how it would work, or what problem it’s intended to solve. I mean, quite literally, what is it? I suspect the government...
The economist John Maynard Keynes is reputed to have said, “When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?” Still, this is a hard piece for me to write. I devoted several years of my life to helping create the Oil Sands Pathways to Net Zero Alliance and its carbon capture, use and storage (CCUS) project...
The time is coming for Prime Minister Mark Carney to overhaul his cabinet, and everyone in Ottawa has some idea how he might do it. Picking a cabinet is an increasingly difficult task. Prime ministers must ensure various regions, languages, identities, genders, loyalties and competencies are represented fairly. You need politicos, communicators and managers, and you need to instil the...
It’s official. The Great Pierre Poilievre Tone Experiment of early 2026 is over. After donning the mantle of the reasonable, Poilievre is back to his natural pugilistic self. And so is his team, with House Leader Andrew Scheer now accusing the (checks notes) National Post of being in the tank for the Liberals for the crime of (checks notes again)...
“In a crisis, fortune favours the bold,” Prime Minister Mark Carney said in a fireside chat video, posted online earlier this month. The Prime Minister laid out the foundation for his Canada Strong plan, which he promised would be transformative, comprehensive and ambitious. But if fortune indeed favours the bold, as Mr. Carney said, the forces of the universe will...
A pessimist could construe Donald Trump’s warning about American troop reductions in Germany as a less brazen modern equivalent to the non-aggression Molotov-Ribbentrop Pact between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union in 1939. The U.S. president is involved in a spat with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz over his conduct in the war with Iran and has said the Pentagon is...
Manitoba Premier Wab Kinew is the country’s most popular premier. That’s unsurprising. He has a penchant for pursuing policies that tend to poll well and is known for having his finger on the pulse of the people. But while pursuing policies because they poll well may work some of the time — as with Kinew’s recent announcement to ban surveillance...
Oil briefly hit US$125 on Thursday after U.S. President Donald Trump said the Strait of Hormuz blockade would continue for months. It may seem odd to say that the oil spike caused by the war creates a dilemma for Canada, but the country must now make a difficult decision – and the United Arab Emirates’ departure from OPEC this week...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is riding a political high. He’s more popular now than he was when Canadians went to the polls one year ago, with polling firms showing record-setting approval ratings for the Liberal leader and the government in general. But roughly 10 years ago, similar things were said about Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and his government at their...
As a royal, Charles’s history has been marked by promise unfulfilled and unending frustration. It’s been a life in an antechamber beset by controversy and scandal surrounding him or his wider family, all as he waited forever for the Crown – only to be greeted by cancer, for which he is still being treated, upon attaining it. It’s like Charles...
Nate Erskine-Smith is a politician in a pickle of his own making. Once again, he pines to be premier. Now, he has a four-step plan to get there.
The PM's economic transformation agenda needs to deliver some visible and impactful results in the next 12 to 18 months, or another line of vulnerability will open up. One year in as prime minister, and Mark Carney is arguably at the top of his political game. He just secured a majority government through some byelection wins and five floor crossings...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government will contribute $270 million to help Ukraine secure critical military capabilities in its defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Carney made the announcement in Armenia on Monday, where he is meeting with world leaders during the European Political Community summit, a gathering focused on strategic co-operation in politics, security and infrastructure. The money will...
Canada is sending more military aid to Ukraine as it continues to defend itself against Russia. Prime Minister Mark Carney made the announcement at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan, Armenia, on Monday, saying Canada will contribute about $270 million toward critical military capabilities, drawn from NATO’s prioritized list of needs for Ukraine. The funding adds to more than...
Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon says the government's new national AI strategy will consider the technology's impacts on the labour market. It's been six months since the government wrapped up fast-tracked consultations on the strategy, which Solomon initially promised would be tabled by the end of last year. Solomon says the impact of AI has been changing and he is...
The federal government's strategy to protect more than $100 billion worth of key infrastructure from the destructive impacts of climate change has significant gaps, with three key departments well behind where they need to be. That's the verdict of an audit by Commissioner of the Environment and Sustainable Development Jerry V. DeMarco of the federal government's Greening Government Strategy. "As...
Chinese consular officials met with a Vancouver city hall employee last month and urged her to cancel an arts event that highlighted communist party repression, sources told Global News.
Canada’s largest public sector union is calling the federal government’s contract offer to tens of thousands of public servants “insulting,” saying the proposal “amounts to less than one per cent per year.” The Public Service Alliance of Canada says three bargaining units representing more than 120,000 public servants met with the Treasury Board last week as part of contract talks...
The federal government is giving $20 million to Toronto-based Electra Battery Materials for its cobalt sulfate refinery in northeastern Ontario, The Logic has learned. The federal contribution to the $99.4-million project will flow through Ottawa’s $5-billion Strategic Response Fund, which replaced the flagship Strategic Innovation Fund last year.
Canada’s oil industry is pushing back hard on proposals to impose a higher carbon tax, arguing the policy adds costs at a time when the world needs more secure and affordable sources of energy. Prime Minister Mark Carney and Alberta Premier Danielle Smith agreed to a higher carbon tax for industrial emissions and a carbon storage project as part of...
A group of Alberta separatists gathering signatures to trigger a referendum on pulling the province out of Confederation is set to hand in its petition sheets today. Mitch Sylvestre, the head of Stay Free Alberta, says it plans to deliver the thousands of names to Elections Alberta's head office in Edmonton. More than a month ago, Sylvestre said the group...
Most caucus members are not pressing the issue, recognizing that Canada has limited leverage and little ability to meaningfully influence the U.S. position, say some Liberal MPs. With the high-stakes Canada–United States–Mexico Agreement up for renewal this summer—a deal that impacts hundreds of thousands of Canadian jobs—some Liberal MPs are saying one key reason that Prime Minister Mark Carney has...
Most Albertans skeptical referendum on separation would pass. After months of signature-gathering and with a potential referendum on independence on the horizon, a new poll done for CBC News suggests Albertans' support for separatism remains flat, with few persuaded to change sides. "What was amazing was how very close the numbers this year were with last year, well within the...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre is backing the Ontario government’s move to expand Toronto’s Billy Bishop Airport, saying it would be great for the economy and increase competition. He made the comments only a short distance from Billy Bishop on Sunday while making a separate announcement on government debt. “This is great for the economy, for the environment and for convenience,”...
Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre says the prime minister has "wasted an entire year" deliberating a potential new oil pipeline out of Alberta — criticism that comes after Mark Carney said a new pipeline is "more probable than possible." "He's been prime minister for a year and he still hasn't even made up his mind whether he supports a pipeline," Poilievre...
Prime Minister Mark Carney said he would be “very pleased” to address the European Parliament following a request from parliamentary president Roberta Metsola. The two leaders met Sunday during the European Political Community summit in Armenia. In public remarks before a meeting with delegates, Metsola said she had sent an invitation “a couple of weeks ago.” “Yes,” Carney responded, nodding...
An Edmonton city councillor says he and his team are helping a woman facing intimate partner violence relocate with her children after her address was leaked in an alleged privacy breach by a separatist group. Councillor Aaron Paquette, who represents the Dene ward in Edmonton's northeast, says he is also hearing from others whose safety and lives have been affected...
Prime Minister Mark Carney should spell out to Canadians what leverage the country has over the United States in coming trade negotiations, Conservative Leader Pierre Poilievre asserted on Sunday. That comes after Carney rejected characterizing energy and critical minerals as "leverage" in talks to renew the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement, also known as CUSMA. Poilievre said Carney should explain how he...
Artificial Intelligence Minister Evan Solomon is becoming Canada’s “face of AI,” and is doing well at building global partnerships, although developing a domestic environment to help commercialize ideas in the sector will be one of the biggest hurdles to address in a refreshed AI strategy, according to sector experts. “[Solomon is] certainly collaborating with all the right people. He’s been...
Senators say they're concerned about the growing list of vacancies in the upper chamber, as the appointment process for new members remains unclear. There are currently nine vacant seats in the Senate, with six more senators due to retire by the end of 2026. Prime Minister Mark Carney has not appointed any senators since taking office last spring.
Colorado Gov. Jared Polis says Canada likely won’t gain much by waiting on the November midterms to ramp up trade negotiations with the U.S. administration, because it’s unlikely Congress will be able to put enough pressure on the president to make a difference. As the July 1 deadline to review the trilateral trade deal between Canada, the United States and...
In his roughly 20 hours in Yerevan, Prime Minister Mark Carney will have only a brief window to engage with Armenia's political leadership before the European Political Community summit — where Canada has been invited as a guest of honour — gets underway. Carney is expected to meet with Armenia's Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan just hours after landing at Zvartnots...
There were high hopes when the Alberta government launch the Heritage Savings Trust Fund in 1976. As the federal government embarks on launching a national sovereign wealth fund, Ottawa could seek lessons from the handling of Alberta’s fund to help ensure it becomes a success. Alberta launched its sovereign wealth fund decades ago, but provincial governments regularly dipped their hands...
Unions say the idea is short-sighted and unsustainable. The federal government says it may “reallocate” its co-working sites to help departments that are short on space meet the goal of having unionized employees report to the office four days a week starting July 6. “As part of the transition back to a four-day-a-week office schedule, various options are currently being...
Prime Minister Mark Carney has arrived in Armenia to take part in the European Political Community summit, a gathering touching on strategic co-operation in politics, security and infrastructure. Canada is the first non-European country to attend these meetings, which have taken place twice a year since they began after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. The meetings include EU...
Political writer says she’s baffled Elections Alberta declined to investigate her complaint. A journalist says she warned Elections Alberta weeks ago about what she believed could be a massive privacy breach affecting millions of voters. But the agency says provincial legislation passed last year constrained them from investigating a complaint about voter information posted on a website belonging to a...
Ford received honorary doctorate, thanked by university president for fostering Great Lakes region relations. Ontario Premier Doug Ford delivered a commencement speech at a U.S. university Saturday, touching on the close ties between Canadians and Americans, as well as the risk imposed by tariffs. Dressed in a black cap and gown, Ford addressed hundreds of graduating students at Saginaw Valley...
Natalie Thoma scoffs at the idea of Alberta separation. “Why should Alberta be its own independent country?” she wonders, shrugging her shoulders. There are more important things to worry about, says the Calgary equipment operator, including the rising cost of living.
It's the last day for Alberta separatists to gather petition signatures that could trigger a referendum on pulling the province out of Confederation. Because the deadline falls on a weekend, however, they have two extra days to deliver the petition. Mitch Sylvestre, head of the group Stay Free Alberta, says it plans to hand the paperwork in Monday to Elections...
Canada's international trade minister says the government is looking to sign three major trade deals before the end of the year -- with Mercosur, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and India. Speaking with The Canadian Press this week, International Trade Minister Maninder Sidhu said Ottawa has teams of negotiators in different parts of the world almost every week. He...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is headed to Armenia on Saturday for a visit his office says is framed around Ukraine's defence and drumming up more trade and investment in Europe. Jean-Francois Ratelle, an international studies professor at the University of Ottawa who specializes in the Caucasus region, said it's disappointing that the visit doesn't seem to be aimed at continuing...
Canada's initial position supporting Washington's war in Iran shifted over the subsequent days as U.S. President Donald Trump's objectives became more clear, Prime Minister Mark Carney told The Canadian Press. "The scale of what the objectives were, or the clarity about what the objectives were, were not there at the start and have arguably evolved over time," Carney said in...
U.S. forces on Monday launched an effort to guide commercial ships through the Strait of Hormuz, where hundreds have been stuck since the Iran war began.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani is breathing on his own after being hospitalized with pneumonia and placed on a ventilator, his spokesperson said Monday.
The absence of a visible leader of the Democrats will help, not hurt Democratic Party chances in the midterms.
Breaking my rule of never quoting myself, but those lines are from a column of mine from February 2017, one month after Donald Trump’s first inauguration. Since then, American democracy has experienced the respite of four years of Joe Biden, which not so much reinstated normal working conditions in journalism and comedy as slowed the slide of both towards the...
Wyoming Gov. Mark Gordon says the potential pipeline expansion project U.S. President Donald Trump approved last week is a positive sign of “cross-border communication” and co-operation, after more than a year of tension stemming from the trade war. Last week, Trump signed an order authorizing the Bridger Pipeline Expansion, a proposed project that would revive portions of the cancelled Keystone...
Prime Minister Mark Carney says his government will contribute $270 million to help Ukraine secure critical military capabilities in its defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Carney made the announcement in Armenia on Monday, where he is meeting with world leaders during the European Political Community summit, a gathering focused on strategic co-operation in politics, security and infrastructure. The money will...
Prime Minister Mark Carney is headed to Armenia on Saturday for a visit his office says is framed around Ukraine's defence and drumming up more trade and investment in Europe. Jean-Francois Ratelle, an international studies professor at the University of Ottawa who specializes in the Caucasus region, said it's disappointing that the visit doesn't seem to be aimed at continuing...
Canada's initial position supporting Washington's war in Iran shifted over the subsequent days as U.S. President Donald Trump's objectives became more clear, Prime Minister Mark Carney told The Canadian Press. "The scale of what the objectives were, or the clarity about what the objectives were, were not there at the start and have arguably evolved over time," Carney said in...
President Donald Trump said on Friday that he will increase the tariffs charged on cars and trucks from the European Union next week to 25%, a move that could jolt the world economy at a fragile moment. Trump said in a social media post that the EU "is not complying with our fully agreed to Trade Deal," though he did...
The first year of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s leadership has had a transformational impact on both Canada’s foreign policy and its standing in the world. The shift has been especially evident in the Indo-Pacific, where Ottawa is more active, more strategic, and more ambitious than it has ever been.
Canada’s long-standing openness helped build one of the world’s most respected immigration systems. However, the intellectual establishment’s push for ever-expanding “inclusivity” has driven that openness beyond what many Canadians consider reasonable.
A collection of SubStack publishing within Canadian public affairs.
If you want to sound wise these days, just blame the crazy state of the world on polarization. If you want to sound really wise, say that fighting polarization needs to be part of the political agenda and be sure to blame social media and Donald Trump (although not necessarily in that order) for the current chaos. Despite it being...
An F-35 crash in Alaska should give shivers to Canada’s military. The pilot survived thankfully, but the $200 million plane was completely destroyed.
By now, most of you reading this column are aware of Prime Minister Mark Carney’s announcement earlier this week that the government is launching a sovereign wealth fund (entitled the Canada Strong Fund). There is, in theory, nothing wrong with such an idea. Indeed, the logic behind such a fund is quite sound.
After the German leader criticizes the U.S. over Iran, Donald Trump starts pulling thousands of American troops out of Germany. So what should we make of this? Dr. Janice Stein spends her regular Monday commentary on that today.
Is July 1 really a deadline or just the beginning of a longer CUSMA fight? Can Canada preserve trade stability with the U.S. without making early concessions? Are tariffs, supply management and Trump’s pressure tactics pulling Canada into something bigger than a routine review?
Canada is looking north. In this season premiere of The Arctic Edge, host Hannah Thibedeau sets the stage for a season of conversations about what it takes to build a strong, sovereign, and thriving Arctic. Decades of underinvestment in northern infrastructure, combined with renewed global interest in the Arctic, have made this moment both urgent and full of opportunity. Through...
They’re blowing windfalls. They’re setting up government agencies to subsidize favoured schemes. They’re dithering on infrastructure. And they shrug at Canada’s uncompetitive tax regime. The policies of Mark Carney’s Liberals, confirmed in last week’s economic update, are increasingly giving off strong Justin Trudeau vibes, as Brian discusses with Ian Lee, professor at Carleton’s Sprott School of Business, and Carlo Dade...
